--- IMPORTANT EVENT NOTES (PLEASE READ EVERYTHING) ---
Hello all! 👋🏿 This is an outdoors combination event (weather permitting) that aims to connect park cleaning with the Charity Miles app. Briefly, Charity Miles is an app that allows users to raise money for charities through miles walked, ran, or biked! A list of some of the charities can be seen at:
https://charitymiles.tumblr.com/thecharities
For more information, visit:
https://charitymiles.org/
Charity Miles is both on the app store (for iPhone) and Google Play store (for Android phones). I would like event participants to utilize the app while cleaning the park, since all walking (before, during, and after) will count towards raising money to charities! So, the event touches on health and wellness/fitness, charity/fundraising, and environmentalism! I love that! You download the app for your phone, set up a simple account, then start sessions in the app (indoor walk, outdoor walk, etc.) and it tracks your steps and miles like other fitness apps! Next, the important park cleaning details.
757 Uplifters is working with the city of Virginia Beach and the park has been adopted and will be under our care for two years, minimum. In the two years, we are to conduct at least six park cleanings per year (so 12 cleanings, total). I have RSVPs open to eight people, and walking the park myself took around 30 minutes, so I don't want too many people for a park of its size. Please message me if RSVPs are open and you still wanted to walk and raise money for charity! The more people walking and cleaning, the better, so going slightly over is not a problem! Also, people have last-minute cancelations! This is strictly a litter cleanup, so we don't need to clean in the water and such, as other groups can handle things way out in the water, hazardous materials, etc.
Now, there are some rules --- Everyone who attends will need to sign and date a volunteer form that states that I (nor the city) are liable for anything that happens while out and cleaning the parking. Having done Adopt-a-Park before, nothing has ever happened, BUT, it doesn't hurt to have documentation. If you are under 18, a parent or guardian must sign the form on your behalf. People who are 15, 16, or 17 do not need a parent or guardian present, but must still have a parent or guardian sign the form. People younger than 15 MUST BE SUPERVISED by an adult 18 or older. That all said, basically, the forms MUST BE SIGNED before anyone can participate. Everyone that participates will also gain volunteer hours, as park clean-up work is documented and filled out and sent to the city of Virginia Beach officials 🙂
--- Some safety tips...Do:
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Work as a group or in pairs. Please don't venture out alone.
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Wear hard-soled shoes. Open toe shoes or sandals should not be worn.
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Be aware of the possibility of coming into contact with poison plants, noxious weeds, bees, snakes, etc. --- Stay alert and avoid them and always carry insect repellent
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Provide adult supervision for those younger than 15 years of age
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Carpool, if you can! There are numerous parking spots at the park and on the street, but it's good to take up less neighborhood spots where we can
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Keep hydrated!
--- Some Don't things to mention:
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Don't horse around or bully others!
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Don't participate in litter cleanups while under the influence of alcohol or drugs
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Don't overexert yourself! Please reach out or stop to relax if you need to, especially during peak Summer heat!
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Don't pickup hazardous materials! Those items can be reported on the park cleanup report card and other groups!
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Don't step into highly vegetated areas or stick your hands under objects or into highly vegetated areas (due to potential poison plant activity, etc.)
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Okay! Most of the aforementioned is pretty self-explanatory. To add, I will provide the orange city bags for the cleanups, and have heavy-duty nitrile gloves (black). I also have eight grabbers that I will gladly share! Please just make sure to return the grabbers to me for other meetup members to use! I also have five cans of insect repellent that I can share, provided you know you don't have any sort of reaction to the spray. One can is also for kids! You are welcome to bring your own cleaning supplies or repellent as well, but I try to provide as much as I can. Lastly, I will have a first aid kit and some bottled water available, if they are needed!
I greatly appreciate all of you taking the time to read this! Having done cleanups before, they are wonderful events where you can gain volunteer experience, meet warm and wholesome people, and have fun! It's not as super strict as it sounds --- basically, be safe and don't cause trouble! We are allowed to laugh and talk and such. I will have my signboard up to help you find me and cleaning starts at 8:40AM. I am looking forward to doing lots of walking, trash-grabbing, and Charity Mile-ing! Talk to you later! 😊👋🏿
